In a 43 hour, 2-stage operation, Columbia University transplant surgeon Dr. Tomoaki Kato removed a football-sized tumor from the abdomen of Robert Collison by taking the organs it was attached to, carving out the tumor, and reimplanting the liver. The ex vivo operation, performed at New York Prebyterian Hospital, involved a rotating team of nurses and doctors, including Chief of Transplantation Dr. Jean C. Emond